It happened when the baby was being pushed around in a buggy close to Belfast City Hall on Friday afternoon.

His angry parents Kerrie and Biggy have called on the city council to step up litter patrols around Belfast.

The parents were crossing the road at Donegall Square West when they were alerted by their baby screaming frantically.

Kerrie described how she stopped and looked into the baby’s buggy, where a lit cigarette was sitting on the left cheek of Caleb’s face, narrowly missing his eye.

She described her terror as the baby wriggled and screamed in pain.

“I had to stop on the road in a panic to get the burning cigarette away from the child’s face,” she said. “Once I got the cigarette out of the child’s buggy, I looked around to see where it may have come from.

“My only guess is that someone has carelessly flicked the remainder of their lit cigarette into the air with no regards for the fact that it ended up landing on my baby’s face as they where about to board one of the Metro buses.”

Caleb’s father said he feared the baby could be left scarred and has urged Belfast City Council take action against litter louts. “My baby boy is very lucky that the person’s cigarette never burnt his left eye,” he said.

“Maybe the next child might not be as lucky as Caleb, I hope he doesn’t end up with a scar.

“Every time we look at our five-month-old baby and see the two burns on his face, we can’t help feeling disgusted that this happened because someone had no respect or consideration for others or the environment.”

Mr Bigmore said the anti-litter message is not getting through.

A spokesperson for Belfast City Council said it had been campaigning for the public to get a grip on litter and keep the city clean.